Happy BDay

Happy Birthday Mom! What an influence you have been to my life and the lives of so many. I am glad we get to take you to lunch today and then you get some special time with "your girl". We love you so much! Enjoy this special day :)

Life is never how I expect...

I had such high hopes for the beginning of this summer. I had the intention of posting everyday until Pumpkin started Kindergarten. I had all these day trips and activities planned. yes, I realize it has only been a week and a half, but that is a long time in my life! :) Life has not gone as planned, which is never an easy thing for me! Critter started by getting the stomach bug going around. He was finally better and I was not feeling that great. Not the stomach bug, but not myself. Luckily hubby was home yesterday to help with the kids, because I completely crashed from exhaustion. I think too many months of not stopping made my body shut down. Then....Pumpkin got a different version of the stomach bug yesterday. We had made plans to head up North today to visit family for a day trip. But...just the boys went and I got to stay home with my girl. She is almost back to normal, but man it has been an interesting couple of weeks around here!

Hopefully we are on the mend around here and will start to all the fun things I have in my head. This time I will not go, go, go everyday all day....that is too much!

I could not help myself with this picture. If Hubby gives Critter a bath, the towel has to go on like Daddy's. Critter is then so proud he will run around the house until it falls off! He is getting to be my big man. He is getting a stronger opinion on the world, yet still has that smile and dimple that melt my heart.
His head "glue" finally came off last night! Yeah! The scar looks great! It is much smaller than the last one was at this point. Plus, it is so close to his hair line that it will be even harder to see. He is getting so grown up looking. I know my little boy is still there and needs me, but it is harder to see each day.

I could not leave my Pumpkin out of this post. This was a picture I took of her before she went to graduation. She was rather excited to wear her Easter Dress again, as were quite a few other girls in her class. That is also the new dress we got her for her bear for a graduation present. She is extremely taken with the notion of saving up money to buy "Sara" things. Now, we just have to teach her not to spend all her money! It has been so nice to just hang out with my girl today. Even though she feels a little bit under the weather, it has been nice. We have watched movies, colored, talked, read books, and just spent nice time together. I guess I will take a little exhaustion and stomach issues every once in awhile if it means I can spend great time with my girl!

So...here is to hoping the rest of our summer is filled with more fun and less ickiness! :)

She is growing up...

My heart today is swelling with pride and breaking due to my little girl growing up! I can not believe how she has grown up over the past few years. She "graduated" from her preschool today. The next step is Kindergarten! This school has been such a blessing in our lives. It has helped her in so many aspects of her life. There is an amazing base of great education she now has due to the amazing people in this school. I, of course, being the proud momma I am had to show off her ceremony. Plus, my mom ended up out of town and could not be there...so there is some extra video for her :)

Walking in...

This is one of my favorite songs she has learned at this school. It does get stuck in your head though! :)

Getting her "certificate". They very smartly did not give the kids their certificates, just rolled up paper. They gave the actual papers to the parents!

It was such a special day. I am hoping to document our summer together in this space. I hope to post each day, until she goes to Kindergarten. I am hoping this will keep me present in both their lives and enjoying the journeys we will take. We are not doing any summer camps this year, just taking our adventures as they come.

I love you my sweet Pumpkin. To me, you were just born yesterday. I know before I know it you will be off and on your own. I am so proud of the amazing girl you have become. You have a wondrous journey ahead of you...I can not wait to see where it takes you...

Yes, again...

Well, it was about time again to make a trip to one of our "favorite" places! Yep, you guessed it...the ER! It had been 7 months since Critter had been and almost 6 months since our family had been there...I guessed we missed the place. We were all playing last night, the kids jumping on Hubby and I...just goofing off and having fun. That is until I heard the SMACK of Critter's head hitting his little rocking chair after he jumped on a pillow. I immediately looked at Hubby and said you need to get him because that was not a good sound.

Off we went to the ER! This one is about an inch above his last one. However, this one needed 2 interior stitches and a long exterior one to help with scarring. He also got the fun glue again! At least that part I was sort of used to. He got to get an anesthesia in his nose so no IV needed. It made him SO loopy. I did feel sort of bad laughing at him before his stitches, but it was hard not to.

He was such a good kid during it. They had to wrap him up like a burrito and cover his head with a towel and half of his face. He kept looking at the amazing tech who was holding his head. She just kept talking to him about superheros, cars, trains and everything she could think of. I was holding Pumpkin trying to distract her. Critter barely even cried...it was amazing

So...that is our latest adventure :) I don't know if this is part of being a mother to a boy or just a mother to a klutz! Either way, I would really like these trips to stop. I do love my kids, but would have much more fun with them on adventures which do not require stitches :)

Fort fun...

After dinner has become the restless time in the house. We have not been playing outside as much and the kids are going crazy! So...we have been building forts! Just a simple, fun thing that the kids have been loving. I am amazed at the games/stories Pumpkin comes up with during fort time. The downfall of course is the desire the rest of the day to take the cushions off the couch and build them. But...whatever makes them happy right now!

How do I say no to this smile...

Just fun and something different in our house. So...you will find us in other worlds in the evening and I will be enjoying every minute of it :)

The perfect weekend...

I had a perfect Mother's Day weekend! It was so nice, peaceful and exactly what this momma heart needed :)

We had the lovely grandma's over for dinner on Saturday. Good food and family are a really nice combination :)

Pumpkin was very happy to wear a new outfit. She is funny, she is starting to get more reserved when she is in the spotlight or around new people. She warms up quickly, but there is a real change there. She is still my outgoing, crazy girl....she just pays attention to who is around her more often.


She has this new pose (as opposed to the old over the shoulder) where she lifts her leg. Not sure where is comes from...but there it is. What is funny is Critter trying to do it along with her...he usually has no clue about what she is doing, but goes along with it since she is his sister :)

My boy! We were getting ready to head out for donuts and coffee, then to a park, then to the bookstore! Talk about a perfect morning :) Most of my favorite things in the world...coffee, my family, playing outside and books!

After reading for 3 hours (yeah for Mother's Day!) we picked up dinner and headed to a park/lake for a picnic. No crowds, noisy restaurant, overpriced food...just us, a picnic bench, a beautiful day and relaxation!

We brought the kids scooters and trike and a ball/bat. It was so much fun seeing them run around and just play. Pumpkin was funny playing catcher. I was amazed that she absorbed so much from watching games with her daddy. She knew right where to stand and what to do...so cute! AND she did not get hit in the head when Critter tried to hit the ball!

Pumpkin was trying to help Critter get into the right "stance" and kept telling him to bend his legs. Well...when you tell a 2 year old to bend his legs this is what he will do. He could not quite hit the ball this way...but it sure made Hubby and I laugh!

It was such a perfect day! I could not have asked for more from my family. I love what these 2 crazy kids have brought to my life and how they have changed me. I could not imagine life another way. I guess that is the joy of motherhood! I hope all the amazing women in my life had an equally amazing Mother's Day. I would not be the mom I am without the wonderful empowerment and support from the women I know and love...

A fun baseball time...

I just love the school Pumpkin has gone to for these past 2 years. They do some amazing projects and units. The month of April they focused on baseball, which made Hubby insanely happy! They focused on all aspects of the game, where stadiums were located, and more thing than I even know! The unit finished with a "baseball game". The kids were given "$10" and had to purchase a seat, food and souvenirs. The kids did not have enough money for everything that was offered. It was to finish the unit as well as teach some basic money management skills. How awesome is that! :)

It just so happened that this event was the day after we got back from our trip, so Hubby was off work. Critter, hubby and myself got to go help out the 2 classes and see what our girl does at school. It was pretty darn awesome. Pumpkin's teacher even gave Critter some money so he could by some thing.

She of course wanted to get a tattoo!
The kids had a choice of seats for different amounts. Of course, our girl purchased the most expensive set of seats in the front row! We pulled up a chair for Critter and he just loved to eat his popcorn and watch the show. They showed the kids highlights from the D-Backs 2007 season. They even took breaks for dancing and a song. It was one of the coolest things I have seen!

He LOVED his popcorn! He would make this face and then eat it and laugh...not sure why it was so funny but it was to him!

I had to get a picture of her in this shirt. It was one of Hubby's shirts playing Little League as a kid. She was SO proud to be wearing one of Daddy's actual shirts to school. To MY East coast family...don't worry if you look at Critter's hat we were still represented that day! :)

It was such a fun day watching our girl interact with her friends and pay attention to her money. She spent $9 pretty easily, but that last $1 was not easy to part with! It was just nice to enjoy where she is at the moment. She only has 6 days of school left until she is done with preschool! Yikes! We will then have 2 months to hopefully do lots of fun things before she starts.....Kindergarten! Man, both kids are growing up so quick...